Petition to delay construction of New Albany police headquarters doesn't get enough signatures

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- Petition efforts to slow the construction of a new New Albany Police Department headquarters have fallen short.

But the biggest concern residents now have is the message they received from the police chief.

The NAPD currently share an office space with the Floyd County Sheriff's Department, and there is a push for the department tor relocate to an open lot, however everyone doesn't agree on the decision.

"A committee, that not too many people know about, decided that this is what we needed and there was no other option," New Albany resident Andrew Nicholson said.

In January, the New Albany City Council voted 6-2 to approve a project to build a standalone police headquarters but months later, much of the debate has been centered around funding for more than $12 million, which has caused a petition.

Indiana State Rep. Ed Clere said the petition was an attempt to slow down the process.

Clere led the effort that would allow residents to have a say in bond projects which is why Nicholson said he signed his name on the dotted line.

"I wanted to get a citizen's voice heard and I wanted to share what I thought," Nicholson said.

The effort fell short by 200 signatures and on Monday, NAPD Chief Todd Bailey sent a letter to everyone who signed the petition alleging that some residents were "told untruths."

"A friend of mine was presented information that told her taxes would increase," Bailey said.

Bailey said each individual was given misinformation and that each of them received the different specific misinformation.

In the letter, Bailey criticized Clere's role and described the effort as "stealthy petition drive" that "failed miserably." Nicholson said Bailey's letter was a form of intimidation.

"If everybody in the city would have got that letter, I wouldn't think it was intimidating," Nicholson said.

Nicholson said this was a way to intimidate citizens so they wouldn't petition for anything but Bailey disagrees.

"For anybody who found it intimidating, that was not our intent," Bailey said. "The one thing I wanted to make sure was clear was that the record was set straight on the facts of the project."

Funds for the project will be used from both the city's general fund and the American Rescue Plan fund.

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